Morning journal and courier., 1887-06-15

ffQovernment rests upon the consent of the peoples" here in the city where by the action of three self-existing towns was formed the model, the town and the commonwealth, the bi-cameral legislature, of our constitutional federal Union.
 If the soul of Nathan Hale, immortal in youth in the air of heaven, can behold to day this scene, as doubtless it can, in the midst of State whose prosperity the young colo mist could not have imagined in his widest dreams for his country, he must feel anew the truth that there is nothing too sacred for a man to give for his native land.
 Governor Lounsbury, the labor of the commission is finished. On their behalf I present this work of art to the State of Con- necticut.
 Gov. Lounsbury Accepts the Statue
 For the State.
 Let the statue speak for itself.
 In appreciation of the excellent work of your commission and of the eloquent words in which the result of that work has been presented, with recognition of the genius of it's artist and in the spirit of that universal homage which is felt for the character of Nathan Hale, this statue is accepted in the name of the State.
 It was best that the consummation of this work should be left to this late generation, for there are human deeds so grand, so akin to the divine, that they can not be rightly estimated until time has cleared the eye of the beholder and distance has cleared up the field of vision It is only the calm eye andistracted by any transitory object and undimned by any tear of sympathy that can measure the lofty pur- pose the heroic deed and it's endearing results, and can mark the sharp outlines of grand eur that is to go down through the ages. Hale was spy and died the death of g. spy, but, in spite of the prejudices of word which has been degraded by it's frequent association with base and sordid motives, there are few who do not feel that Nathan Hale by the purity of his purpose and the sublime unsel- fshness of his life lifted the mission of the spy into the paths of respect and honor and brought to the gallows of the martyr halo of unmixed and unfading glory. If in all this State there is one who from any cause of blindness cannot see that in all matters which concern the triumph of righteous law or the requirements of just liberty mans unselfsh deception is Gods truth, let him at least remember this, that when man has come so near to his maker that all possible wrong to any fellow being is out of the ques- tion all the ground between him and his God becomes holy ground, and If any third person presumes to approach it, let him do 1t with uncovered feet, with reverent head and with silent lips.
 You need not fear that any worthy citizen of this commonwealth will ever gaze upon that statue except with a heart full of rever- ence. God counts time not by duration but by results, and we arCer the history or cen tury pay our respects and homage not to dignity of years but to dignity of character and nobility of soul.
 We unveil to-day the statue of a boy of twenty-one, but it is also the statue of man who in few short years had rounded the full measure of perfect life. The vis- itor within these halls will bend at this statue with reverence as profound as that which he feels in the presence of Bucking- ingham or Trumbull; but the memory of Hale will cail forth deeper admiration and a more tender love, for no other son of Con- necticut ever went to such a crown of glory from such cross of suffering.
 But best of all it is to feel and to know that in no hamlet of this State will the story of the martyr spy ever cease to be told; that of the sons and daughters of Connecticut un- told thousands who can never look upon this statue nor even behold the dome of this Cap itol will find that the contemplation of his character gives kind of inspiration to their whole lives, adds strength and purity to their love of State and nation, makes more sure and widespread the bene6cence of legislation and so enhances the blessedness of that hber- ty which Hale died to achieve.